Hello everyone! Hailey Austin from LDC Dundee here. LDCD’s 3rd meeting on the 18th of October was an amazing success with over 30 people in attendance (and most of them new faces!). Our session was centered on zines and the power of zine-making. We had a talk on the history and importance of zines and then had a zine-making workshop.

We were honoured to have the amazingly talented artist Amy Galloway (@hesitantdoodle) draw-cument (draw/document) the event. She really went above and beyond documenting the event… her art can be made into a zine that captures the zine-making event! I cannot get over how cool that is. Her commissions are currently open!

THE QUESTION

We started the night with the question: “What is your favourite thing from the 90s?” and got some pretty hilarious answers.

Other great answers were “Me. I’m from the 90s”.

THE SPEAKER

After the question, I handed over to Dr. Damon Herd for a talk on the history and importance of zines. Damon is the Coordinator for the Dundee Comics Creative Space (home of LDCD) and is a prolific zine collector and creator.

THE WORKSHOP

After Damon’s discussion of the power of zines as modes of self-expression, Olivia Hicks was up to lead everyone through a zine-making workshop. Olivia is a final year PhD student in comics at the University of Dundee and is an experienced zine workshop leader, zine creator, and zine collector!

THANK YOU’S and STAY TUNED

Many thanks to Damon (@tickingboy) and Olivia (@missoliviahicks) for their time and effort and for creating a wonderful session! A HUGE thank you to Amy (@hesitantdoodle) for their amazing art, fantastic attitude, and continued support of LDCD. And thanks go out to everyone who attended the event and made it such a success. We could not do this without you!

Thanks also to my co-founders Grace Wright and Rachel Davis who have both moved back to the US after finishing their Master’s in Comics and Graphic Novels at the University of Dundee. Thank you for your continued support from across the pond and helping me with logistics at VERY weird times! You are both sorely missed!

What’s next for LDC Dundee, you ask? Our next meeting will be in late January/February. Based on the feedback we received after this event, we will be doing more workshops/activities with comics creation. We will announce all the details on our Facebook page. In the mean time, things are in the works for LDCD totes and/or stickers and possibly a LDC Scotland event next year. WATCH THIS SPACE!

Hi there! It’s Lana Le here, and I’m chuffed that Rachael Ball asked me to be Laydeez Do Comics’ guest blogger for August 22’s meeting at Gosh Comics. (Though I may have hinted a bit when I doodled the previous speakers and posted their faces + quips on my online sketchbook.)

Last week’s speakers : Cath Tate, Angela Martin, and The Surreal McCoy are all women cartoonists who use humour to comment on social issues, politics or current affairs. “I saw humour as a weapon.” said Angela Martin, describing cartooning as perfect for someone like herself, who likes to draw and is opinionated, but is too scared to be a stand-up comedienne.Angela had studied textile design, but was inspired by a Claire Bretécher cartoon, in the Sunday Times Magazine about what women do on Sundays, to write her dissertation on women cartoonists. This led to creating her own cartoons, which were later produced as cards by Cath Tate and Leeds Cards.

Cath Tate’s postcards began as mini protest posters against nuclear weapons and anti-homosexuality clauses. Originally Cath used photo montage, a technique she learned from Peter Kennard, and sold her postcards at alternative bookshops. She didn’t shy away from politically-charged topics such as reproductive rights or equality for women in the workplace. 

Cath later expanded to calendars, Christmas cards, and a series of Fanny comics, a collaboration with Carol Bennett. Today Cath Tate Cards are greeting cards instead of postcards and are sold online and in bookstores.The Surreal McCoy (TSM) introduced herself by adding “You can call me ‘The.’” A self-proclaimed “gag artist”, TSM (I never learn her real name) tells us that it’s essential to know a little about a lot to be funny.

TSM, actually a musician who became an “accidental cartoonist” when she doodled while travelling on tour busses and it led to a second career when they started getting published in magazines and newspapers such as The New Yorker and Sunday Times. “I wish I could’ve chosen a more sensible second career like accounting.”

Catch The Surreal McCoy doodling in public at The 1066 Country Cartoon Festival in Hastings on 16 October.

Perhaps see Angela Martin directing a theatre festival (her current focus).

Next year, see more of all of their work in Cath Tate’s passion project at the Cartoon Trust — an exhibition showcasing the work of women cartoonists from its beginning to the present. We can’t wait for another excuse to celebrate Laydeez Do Comics.

The Leeds meeting for June actually took place in Hebden Bridge as part of the Hebden Bridge Art Festival. Louise Crosby introduced the evening and as there were a lot of new people at the meeting she started with a quick introduction to more autobiographical comics.

The first speaker was Jacky Fleming who is a feminist cartoonist known for her postcards and comic strips. She talked about feminism, and how she attempts to make it accessible through simplistic and humours drawings, which draw on people’s collective experiences. We were treated to some of her later political cartoons, which were more about politics in general, and a glimpse at a new project about science, inspired by viewing may documentaries about the “great men of history” and wondering where all the women where.

Second was Kate Charlesworth who talked us through the process of making her new graphic novel, Sally Heathcote: Suffragette, which she worked on with Mary and Bryan Talbot. Her talk fused on the artistic process from Bryan Talbot’s layouts, to sketches, through to the finished watercolour pages. Many things inspired the look of the characters and the portrayal of the suffragette movement, both from historical research, as well as their portrayal in TV dramas and other media. She talked briefly about the use of colour, how the colure builds as you progress though the book and also how important it was for Sally’s character to be recognisable on every page and so has red hair.

She finished with a short overview of how she originally became involved in comics and cartooning through the LGBT press, drawing and writing about things she believed needed to be written about. It was an interesting look at comics tackling topics which were not talked about in the general press.

Candy Guard Illustrator, animator and comics artist  http://candyguard.co.uk

Sharon Morris (UCL) Professor of Fine Art at Slade, UCL, Poet and Artist http://www.ucl.ac.uk/slade/people/academic/profile/SMMOR81

Kiriko Kubo Cartoonist http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_fb_0_16?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=cynical+hysterie+hour&sprefix=Cynical+Hysterie%2Cstripbooks%2C144

Elizabeth Querstret Comics artist http://www.querstret.co.uk

The question this month was: Have you had a “first experience” recently? The response was varied, though there was a definite focus on food. First kebab, first steak, first Nando’s, and first day having double fish and chips; the latter being something I definitely have to try! A less delicious-sounding first experience was “picking up a dog poo without a bag” – it put an end to my stomach rumblings.

Philippa Rice

The first speaker was Philippa Rice, I was really pleased when I found out she was speaking – I’ve been a fan for a little while. Also it was great to hear the story behind her latest book, Soppy (which you should definitely buy, it’s lovely).

Personally I was interested to hear that Soppy started life as rough daily sketches of Philippa’s life with her boyfriend. Most of my diary comics start in a similar way – as a doodle to help me remember what happened. The style of the finished book seems to take inspiration from Philippa’s hourly comic day drawings, which use cut-out elements similar to My Cardboard Life.

Philippa also spoke about her other work including My Cardboard Life, and comics like Recyclost. It was nice to hear about the transition from web comics to physical books, and the challenges this poses when your work isn’t in a standard format.

Carol Adlam

The next talk was by Carol Adlam, who spoke about The New Wipers Times. The original Wipers Times was a renowned trench magazine published by Nottingham’s Sherwood Foresters whilst fighting in World War I; it was a satirical look at the war, and managed to find irony and humour in some of the most dire situations imaginable.

The New Wipers Times is a graphic anthology which gives a glimpse into army life. It tries to retain the spirit of the original and commemorates the centenary of the outbreak of the Great War. Developed with the current army families based at Chetwynd Barracks in Nottingham, it was really interesting to hear some of their stories.

Sophie Herxheimer

I remember thinking at several points during Sophie’s talk: “How the hell am I going to document this on the blog!?”: The talk had a focus on “talking to ghosts” (life and death making up a lot of the subject matter), but it felt more like a wonderful rambling insight into the life of a very creative woman.

The first of Sophie’s projects mentioned was Hurricane Butter – a collection of poems and drawings acting as a memorial to her mother. It was lovely to listen to readings from the book, and to hear about a woman who’s obviously been a great inspiration to Sophie.

Another of the works that was spoken about in detail was an enormous table-cloth for Feast On The Bridge, where each place setting was screen-printed with another person’s food story; this was supposed to work as an ice-breaker before the meal. These stories were collected by Sophie, who spent 10–15 minutes talking to people and coaxing tales about food out of them.

Sophie covered many other interesting projects during her talk, I’d recommend exploring Sophie’s Website for a better idea of what she’s working on.

Laydeez Do Comics was introduced, as ever, by Nicola Streeten, but Sarah Lightman sadly couldn’t make it. This is sad, because Sarah bakes the cakes, which are excellent, but also because I had worked out what kind of radio would be: a Blaupunkt Bristol 27 car stereo. Compact, functional, and excellent typography.

First up tonight was the indie comics powerhouse, Elizabeth Querstret, who talked about finding her way into the comics community, why she makes the individual comics that she makes, and why creativity (and actually making things) is so important to her. Obviously, Querstret would be a Yaesu FT-60E, a portable handheld unit that can both receive and send ham radio communication.

Next was Nicola Streeten herself, who gave a fascinating talk about the history of feminist comics. This forms the basis of her PhD research, and she talked us through some of the forgotten and hidden gems of these politically important comics. In terms of radios, Nicola would be the groundbreaking Beolit 600, a radio designed so far ahead of it’s time it looks good next to an iPhone.

Finally, Ian Williams came back to Laydeez Do Comics to tell us about his dual career as a comic book author and doctor, and how Laydeez Do Comics had been essential to helping him realise his comic-making ambition. He talked about his excellent new book The Bad Doctor out now with Myriad Editions.  He also talked about how graphic narratives are incredibly useful for explaining medicine in a way that reached out to a larger audience, and he explained the graphic medicine movement that he has been at the heart of. Ian is, of course, a Sony ICF-SW100, the famous Sony radio that is practical for international travel, useful in an emergency, and has the smooth clean lines famous of 1990s Japanese design.

Finally, I’d like to give an honourable mention to Keara and Wallis, who’ve been so patient with me (and such excellent behind-the-scenes organisers). If they were turned into radios, they would be a matched pair of Regency TR-1’s, the shirt-pocket transistor that made it fun to listen to radios everwhere.

Created by: Evie Fridel Illustrator www.eviefridel.com blog: http://fridels.tumblr.com/

Guests:
Will Brooker  writer and academic, Professor of film and cultural studies, Kingston University, http://fass.kingston.ac.uk/faculty/staff/cv.php?staffnum=354

co-creator of My so called secret identity http://mysocalledsecretidentity.com

Chris Geary comics artist, illustrator and designer http://www.chrisgearyonline.com

Elena Vitagliano and Asia Alfasi comics artists talking about their collaborative project http://cargocollective.com/elenavitagliano

http://asiaalfasiart.com

Lizzie Boyle  www.disconnectedpress.co.uk then discussed her new compilation graphic novel CROSS which she described as a politicized novel but ‘in a British way’. She divulged her passions for helping young artists make their work as she believes, as do I, that graphic novels (I would just say art) can change the world. She also led an interesting thought to questioning the gender qualities of content. Like many, she has recognised the poor writing of female characters in works of fiction, with the idea of a “strong female character” being a personal bugbear of hers. This reminds me of the Bechdel scale, a term coined by Alison Bechdel.

Finally Miss Heather www.missheather.co.uk gave a heart-warmingly shrewd talk on comics for young females. She marked that she, as a child and indeed now, would like to see a person in a graphic novel that represented her. She amusingly remarked that most commercial magazines for girls seem to simply make something pink then tape a lip-gloss to it – well done, now it’s for girls. Miss Heather called for more work for girls, girls that look like her and talk about things that she is interested in! Her talk complimenting Lizzie’s towards a more empowered female impression on the graphic novel industry which I support wholeheartedly.

Whilst brief, I hope you can enjoy this write up on my experience (of my second Laydeez meeting) which was as dynamic and exciting as their clothes were colourful!

Written By James Norris.

James Norris is currently working through his first graphic novel ‘A Mother’s Trace’ that uses his childhood experiences and the suicide of his mother. It is an autobiographic graphic novel that aims to unpick a devastating mess and attempt to understand such an all encompassing void that suicide leaves behind, underpinned (hopefully) with humour and an academic outlook.

If you would like to see the first chapter (part one and two) of his book ‘A Mother’s Trace’ then please see his tumblr account here: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/a-mothers-trace

Alternatively you may wish to read an article written about James and his new book here: http://www.oneandother.com/features/211-a-mother-s-trace-james-norris

If you have any questions or comments to pass onto James please feel free to message him on the tumblr account or his twitter account @amotherstrace

Thanks!

I decided to create a comic strip to illustrate the presentations of the amazing artists that showed their work at the event – Jill Gibbon, Liz Greenfield and Brian Sanders. Firstly, because I’ve always wanted to make a comic strip as for now I am just a drawer. Secondly, because even though I don’t really see myself as being a good writer, I saw this as a great opportunity to experiment with new ways of telling stories.

Before the presentation, Nicola and Sarah usually ask the audience a question to give everybody the opportunity to introduce themselves. This time, Nicola wasn’t there as she had family commitments to attend to, so Sarah presented the event one her own, and asked everybody to “Talk about something you have missed in life because of a family issue”.

After we heard interesting answers all around, Jill Gibbon was the first to take the microphone:

Then it was Liz Greenfield:

Brian Sanders was the last guest speaker. In the illustrations I made him narrate his own story, so you can feel the same way I felt when was listening the presentation; as if we were all children hearing a beautiful bedtime story to smile and dream about.

Blog post created by Olga Hendel Illustrator http://olgahendel.blogspot.co.uk
Guests:
Jill Gibbon Artist http://www.jillgibbon.co.uk
Liz Greenfield Writer and cartoonist www.lizgreenfield.com
Brian Sanders Artist and Illustrator http://artofbriansanders.blogspot.co.uk

Hi there!

My name is Tara Williamson and I’m a Canadian illustrator living in Glasgow.
I was invited to do the blog for the Glasgow edition of the Laydeez do comics talk on August 11th. You can find my work on tumblr or my on my website.To start off, I’m a terrible person. I was late. As a Canadian, and a relative newcomer to Glasgow. I still manage to totally misjudge transit times and mess up connections. luckily, they hadn’t gotten much further than initial introductions and I hadn’t missed anyone speaking (phew!)
Gillian (from Team Girl Comic) had asked me to share my experience of the August 11 Glasgow Talk back at the beginning of summer and I agreed almost immediately. I checked out the blog and it looked like a lot of fun.
Comic creators in a ted-talks setting? I’m so in. I did some sketches and rough notes while each speaker was talking, hurredly jotting down notes in the semi darkness.
I then compiled these along with my recollections of each speaker and their talk into these 3 Gouache panels depicting each Artist.

 

First up was Graham Johnstone (gjohnstone.net). A long-time comics creator and the editor of the zine Dead Trees. He spoke mostly about his new ongoing project The curse of the yellow book.
Graham’s talk was as long and twisty as his proposed epic, weaving elements of mythology, literature and a myriad of other influences into a complex story that he was attempting to explain to us. He spoke briefly at the onset,about his start in comics and some of the projects he’s already completed. My favorite bit of his work is Tangled tales, an apt metaphor for Graham’s talk and a genuinely interesting comic, It consists of six panels with six variations per panel, with endless permutations the reader can alter the comic at will. Its hard to describe, I encourage you to check it out.

His talk mostly focused on his new project, which Graham is clearly passionate about. True to the title, the story features an incendiary  yellow book,

the narrative follows a boring sort of civil servant who’s life is irrevocably changed by the discovery of this book.
Beyond that I remember Graham’s talk as a series of fragmented images, and references to literature. Maybe it was intentional.
The whole talk had a dreamlike quality like much of his work.

Second up we heard from Louise Crosby illustrator and coordinator of Laydeez Do Comics in Leeds. http://www.lindenartstudio.org/artists/louise-crosby/
Louise comes from a background of Fine arts as an Illustrator and Printmaker. She introduces herself as a fine artist that sort of drifted into comics organically through illustrating the poems of her friend and collaborator Claire Shaw. They call their collaboration Seeing Poetry. She describes her work as a fusion of fine-art and comics, a sort of hybrid form, both and neither. Her early work featured prints with poetry and collages of words and images an early blending of the mediums that led to her later work that more closely follows the comic page format. She talks about the unique constraints of working with complete poems, the challenge and joy of her chosen format. She is passionate about the work of her counterpart, and throughout the talk it is obvious that they are a good team. Dedicated to showcasing the voice and vision of Claire, the poetry is always clear. I took away a sense of passion and consideration, an artist to the last.

 

I already know MJ Wallace from Glasgow drink and draw, she is part of Team Girl Comic and a well known member of the Glasgow indie comics scene. She has a webcomic: Roller skates and breakfast dates http://rollerskatesandbreakfastdates.tumblr.com/ a simple and poignant 4 panel strip layout telling stories from her day to day life. Her comic is full of references to classic tabletop gaming comics and genuine human interactions.
Her work and her life are deeply intertwined one reflecting and influencing the other. She is a charming and enthusiastic speaker, describing how she got into comics, the challenges she overcame in accepting and showing her work. Rollerskates and breakfast dates is  a humorous and at times deeply personal account of MJ’s life.
MJ’s talk was brief but really encouraging to new creators. She talked about her shift in perspective that allowed her to show and print her work, developing a process that allowed her room to improve. MJ ended the talk on a fun and lighthearted note, a welcoming and encouraging outlook on the medium, the freedom of self publishing and the acceptance of the independent comics scene. I came away inspired re-vitalized  thinking about my own process, a perspective shift of my own.

All three speakers reflect such different voices in the Indie comics world. Different approaches culminating in a landscape for comics that is vastly different from the dated stereotype of mainstream comics. Demonstrating again that the game has indeed changed. Comics are for everyone, and creators can come from any skill level or background, there’s something for everyone out there, reader or creator.

inspiring stuff.

thanks guys!